Technology helps grain farmers confront weather woes

Farmers in B.C. and beyond and industry analysts say dramatic swings in weather are hampering grain and other crop yields at a time when farmers are leaving the sector, and the only way forward is to adapt with technology.

Odermatt, who is also the president of the BC Grain Growers Association, has been working with his father since 2012 to farm about 2,000 acres of land in the Peace region of B.C.'s northeast. He said seeding typically begins in May and although he's worried, he hasn't yet lost hope the weather will turn around.

"We're in a Class 5 drought, the highest classification you can get actually, and we've had low rainfall and not a lot of snow," said Odermatt, who grows wheat, barley, oats, canola and grasses for seed production. "We rely on runoff in the springtime, like the snowmelt, to actually replenish our soil moisture and we just haven't had that for a couple of years."

Farmers in B.C. and beyond and industry analysts say dramatic swings in weather are hampering grain and other crop yields at a time when farmers are leaving the sector, and the only way forward is to adapt with technology.